Diet Coke Bottle Fondant Birthday Cake

by penji1

DC cake 002

It was my friend Wendy’s birthday yesterday and she loves Diet Coke like no other and so Courtney and I decided to make her a Diet Coke birthday cake.  I got this soda bottle shaped cake pan from the Coke Rewards website where you enter the codes you find on your coke products and then you can redeem those points for cool stuff like a silicone shaped soda bottle cake pan.  The cake is chocolate from the “White Almond Sour Cream” cake recipe which is already on the blog and then my favorite buttercream icing which is also already on the blog and then chocolate fondant for the bottle and white fondant tinted grey, black and red for the label and bottle cap.  Wendy said it was the best birthday cake she’d ever had.  Happy Birthday Wendy!

 

Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies in a Cookies and Milk Bar

by penji1

evening of excellence 032

Wednesday night was our year end wrap up for the girls at church called our Evening of Excellence and I was in charge of the refreshments so to mix it up a little bit, I went with a Cookies and Milk Bar.  I made two kinds of cookies, “Three Chip Cookies” (which are already on the blog) and then these new ones called “Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies” which come from a blog called “Sweet Pea’s Kitchen” which are delightful!  The cookies and milk bar was a hit and the whole room smelled so good, like a bakery right there at church.  Here is a closer look at the cookies, Three Chip on the bottom and PB on the top.

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2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (3.4 oz) box instant vanilla pudding

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup Reese’s Pieces

1 cup peanut butter chips

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2  Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and pudding mix and set aside.  Beat butter, peanut butter and sugars on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 – 4 minutes.  Add eggs, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  Add vanilla and honey and beat until combined.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, beat to combine.  Add chocolate chips, Reese’s Pieces and peanut butter chips and mix until incorporated.

3  Roll (or use a cookie scoop) heaping tablespoon of dough into 1 1/2″ ball between palms and place on prepared sheet.  Repeat with remaining dough, spacing balls 2″ apart.  Using palm, gently flatten dough balls until they are about 3/4″ thick.

4  Bake 10 minutes.  Let cookies cool on sheets 2 minutes before removing to wire racks.

It’s a Rocky Road Cupcakes

by penji1

Treats for the girls at church today from Wendy Paul’s “101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes”.  Just ate one and they are delicious!

1 box chocolate cake mix

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chocolate chips

1 – 2 cups miniature marshmallows

1  Mix together cake mix, eggs and milk.  Scoop into paper cupcake liners in cupcake pan, filling 3/4 full.

2  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Quickly place walnuts, chocolate chips and marshmallows on center of each cupcake, dividing evenly.

3  Return to oven for 3 – 4 minutes.  Marshmallows will turn golden.  Remove from oven and cool completely.

Sweet and Salty Pretzel Tart with Chocolate Ganache and Peanut Butter Swirl

by penji1

We don’t go for the traditional Thanksgiving desserts around here, we aren’t really a pie family.  If I’m going to consume those calories then I want chocolate, not pumpkin!  So here is this year’s Thanksgiving dessert at the Johnson house in all it’s glory!  It comes from a blog called “The Sweet Talker” and it is delicious, especially with a big dollop of Cool Whip on top.

crust:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels

1 1/2 cups flour

1 egg

filling:

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (she cheated and used chocolate chips and so did I!)

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

swirl:

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1  To make the crust, beat together butter, powdered sugar and half of the crushed pretzels until creamy.  Mix in flour, egg and remaining pretzels, making sure to leave some pretzel pieces intact for added crunch.  Form dough into a flattened ball, wrap it in plastic and chill for 1 hour or overnight.

2  When you’re ready to roll out the tart shell, take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit for a few minutes to make the dough more workable.  Butter a 12″ round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.  Sandwich dough between 2 pieces of wax paper and roll out into a 15″ circle.  Once sheet of dough is centered in prepared pan, press it into corners of pan and fold excess dough back over sides to create a nice strong double edge crust, making sure to keep dough level with edge of pan.  Pierce dough a few times with a fork and freeze for 1/2 hour.

3  Preheat oven to 375 and position rack in center.  Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit it buttered side down tightly against the inside of the tart shell.  Place tart on a baking sheet and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes until edges are golden brown.  Transfer tart to rack and let cool completely before filling.

4  To make the ganache, put chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set aside.  In small saucepan, combine cream and butter and heat over medium heat.  When it comes to just a boil, pour it over chocolate and let sit for 3 – 5 minutes.  Whisk together until it all melts and you’re left with a smooth pudding like consistency.  Pour it into cooled tart shell and smooth with spatula.

5  For the swirl, melt the peanut butter slightly in microwave until it’s runny.  Pour it over the chocolate ganache and drag a knife through it to create swirls.  Chill for 10 – 15 minutes before serving to set the filling.

 

Easy Homemade Rolls

by penji1

This is my best contribution to Thanksgiving dinner this year – homemade rolls!  They were really easy to make and turned out looking great and tasting great!  The recipe comes from a blog called “Six Sisters’ Stuff”.  I will definitely be making these again.

1 tablespoon active dry yeast (1 packet)

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour

1  Mix yeast, sugar, eggs, water, butter and salt together in a large bowl, all at once.  Add 4 cups flour and mix well with a spoon.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise 4 – 6 hours or overnight in refrigerator.  Do not knead dough.

2  Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and divide in half.  Roll each half of dough into a circle.  Brush with additional melted butter and cut into 16 pieces, like a pizza.  Roll up each piece from large end to the point.  Place rolls on a cookie sheet ad let rise 30 – 60 minutes.  Bake at 375 for 8 – 10 minutes.

Maple Roasted Turkey with Sage, Smoked Bacon and Cornbread Stuffing

by penji1

The cooking and cleaning are done so now let the blogging begin!  Bob wanted to be in charge of the turkey this year so I happily let him.  He received this recipe in an email from Food Network, courtesy of Tyler Florence.  I’m not crazy about sage so I asked him to leave that out which he did and he didn’t do the cornbread stuffing but I’ll give you the whole recipe.  It was a really tasty and moist turkey that smelled divine while cooking.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 bunch fresh sage, leaves finely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large onions, finely chopped

1 loaf cornbread, cubed (about 6 cups)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 cups chicken stock

1 (12 – 14 pound) fresh turkey (Bob bought a 19 pound turkey for the 5 of us because he LOVES leftovers!)

1 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup hot water

8 strips smoked bacon

1/4 cup flour

1/2 lemon, juiced

1  Preheat oven to 350 and remove top rack.

2  Combine butter and sage in bowl, mash with fork or spoon until sage is well incorporated and butter has flecks of green in it; season with salt and pepper.

3  Melt 4 tablespoons of sage butter in saute pan, add onion, cook and stir for 15 minutes until soft and golden.  Remove from heat.  Put cornbread in large bowl and scrape sauteed onion mixture on top.  Add egg, heavy cream and just enough chicken stock to moisten stuffing without making it soggy (about 1/2 cup).  Toss well to combine, season with salt and pepper.

4  Remove neck and gizzards from inside turkey.  Rinse bird thoroughly inside and out with cold water, pat dry.  Sprinkle cavity and skin liberally with salt and pepper.  Using fingers, gently lift skin from breast and legs, and slip pieces of sage butter underneath; massaging it in as you go.  Fill bird with cornbread stuffing without packing too tightly; cook remaining stuffing separately in buttered baking dish.  Truss the turkey;

Maple Walnut Fudge

by penji1

Started the Thanksgiving food prep yesterday with these little beauties!  The recipe is from the October 19, 2012 issue of “All You” magazine.  YUMMY!

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 (7.5 oz) jar Marshmallow Fluff

1 (5 oz) can evaporated milk

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (11 oz) bag white chocolate chips

2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon maple extract

1  Line an 8″ square baking pan with foil, leaving at least a 1″ overhang on all sides.  Mist with cooking spray.

2  Combine brown sugar, Marshmallow Fluff, evaporated milk, butter and salt in a heavy saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, whisking often, until it comes to a boil.  Let it boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.

3  Remove pan from heat; stir in white chocolate chips until fully melted and mixture is smooth.  Stir in walnuts and maple extract.  Quickly pour into baking pan and smooth top.  Refrigerate uncovered until firm, about 2 hours.

4  Using foil handles, lift fudge from pan and place on cutting board.  Remove foil.  Cut fudge into pieces, wiping off knife between cuts.  Store in airtight container in refrigerator between layers of waxed paper for up to 1 week.

Baked Cheater Churros

by penji1

Card games and treats again last night.  These were the treats from a blog called “Lovin’ From the Oven”.  Easy, quick and tasty – my 3 favorite things!

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 cup melted butter

1  Preheat oven to 450.

2  Cut thawed pastry into 1″ wide strips.

3  Bake 8 – 10 minutes.

4  Mix together cinnamon and sugar.

5  When done baking, brush sticks with butter and roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Crusty Bread

by penji1

I think this bread should be called “Miracle Bread”!  I have a confession to make, I am a little afraid of using recipes that call for yeast because I have not had good luck in the past making things involving yeast but this bread truly could not be any easier or tastier!  I found the recipe on Pinterest (of course!), followed it carefully but after the 12 hours plus of rising time, my dough looked like a soggy mess and I was sure that it would not bake into anything remotely resembling bread!  But it did!  So Miracle Bread!  The recipe comes from a blog called “Simply So Good” and I’m going to tell you right now that her post will be much, much better than mine!  She took lots of pictures of the whole bread making process which was helpful because then I could check how my dough looked compared to hers and also she answers tons of questions about the recipe so that was helpful too so you really should go check out her post but here are the basics.

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon yeast

1 1/2 cups water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  (My dough was really runny so I added an additional 1/4 cup flour but I think next time I make it, I will add less water.)  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 – 18 hours.  (She said that she has let it sit for up to 24 hours with no problems.)  Overnight works great.  Heat oven to 450.  When oven has reached 450, place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  (I don’t have a cast iron pot so I used my Pampered Chef Stoneware Deep Covered  Baker.)  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  (Mine would not hold the shape of a ball and was just kind of a blob or mound.)  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while pot is heating.  Remove hot pot from oven and drop in dough.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, remove lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and set on cooling rack.

Cranberry, Orange, Almond Crusty Bread

Here is one of the flavored breads that she also does so for this one just follow the above instructions but add to the dry ingredients the zest of 1 orange, 1/2 cup almonds and 3/4 cup dried cranberries then just follow the recipe as outlined above.  Smells and tastes heavenly!

Steak and Potato Soup

by penji1

And here is tonight’s dinner, along with some homemade bread (in the post to follow), perfect for a cold, wet, winter’s day!  This recipe also comes from “Betty Crocker’s Soups and Stews”.

2 pounds boneless beef sirloin steak (1″ thick) (I cheated and just bought stew meat)

2 tablespoons oil (didn’t use this)

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed

2 pounds small red potatoes, cut into 3/4″ pieces (I used Russet because I have a 50 pound bag of them in my garage!)

3 cups ready to eat baby cut carrots, cut lengthwise into fourths)

1 (1 pound) bag frozen cut green beans

2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon pepper

6 (14 oz each) cans beef broth

3 tablespoons steak sauce

1  Cut beef into 1/4″ strips; cut strips into 1″ pieces.  In 8 quart stockpot or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium high heat.  Cook and stir beef in oil 4 – 5 minutes or until brown; add onion and garlic.  Cook and stir 2 minutes.

2  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low.  Cover and simmer 12 – 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.